Missouri Pigeons Fate: Sealed by Hannibal City Council

Missouri Pigeons Fate:

Sealed by Hannibal City Council

I have a special place in my heart for pigeons. I remember the song “Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Bag” from Mary Poppins and I just heard it again last night. I was watching a documentary on the life of Walt Disney and as it turns out the song was a favorite of his. The songwriter said that Walt would come in and ask them to “sing it again” and they knew what he meant.

Pigeons were used for many years to deliver messages. They are very smart birds and they always go “home” which is no longer what we need them to do. The cities that bred the birds and used them as messengers kept houses for them and fed them. Any animal that is raised from a baby and fed will always come back to that source of food.

The homing pigeons would be raised by one handler and then shipped to other locations in order to receive messages and be released. The birds would always go “home.” Our old world gave way to the new; to post offices and the pony express and the birds were released. The pigeons had been raised by humans and never taught to find their own food. They bred, but had nothing to teach their young except that cities and humans mean food.

During World War I and II the homing pigeons were used again in Europe. When they were no longer needed the pigeons were released… again. Now they have become a problem in many major cities around the world. Since they no longer have handlers to house, feed, and clean up after them, the birds can spread disease. They are nesting on the tops and in the alcoves of the cities buildings. There are just way too many to handle.

Hannibal, Missouri has come to the decision that the birds must go. I can relate to their problem even though I love the birds. The mild winter and warm spring has increased the numbers of the pigeons just the same as other “pests.” The contract to rid the city if the pigeons sets a plan in motion; feed them long enough to gain their trust. Feeders will be set up in the city for a few weeks. Then the food will be replaced with poison and pigeons, according to the AP report, will be dropping from the sky. City workers will clean up the dead pigeons from the streets and then the problem will be gone.

It’s too bad that pigeons don’t eat termites, we could use them in Arizona. Since we haven’t got termite eating pigeons we have to make do with our own pest control specialists to get rid of termites in Arizona. You can get a free termite inspection and then go from there. Rest assured that we don’t want a termite population explosion, which means preventing the problem before it starts, unlike the problem with pigeons.